Keywords
Children
Constitutional resilience
How to Cite
Abstract
This paper examines, Indian Constitution's resilience in safeguarding children's rights from digital vulnerabilities such as surveillance, behavioural manipulation, and data exploitation. Although existing legal frameworks, including the Information Technology Act, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, offer a basic level of protection to children in digital platforms, they are currently fragmented and struggling to keep pace with the rapid evolution of AI technology. This paper critically examines whether the Indian Constitution is resilient in protecting children from AI-based digital vulnerabilities. It employs doctrinal and comparative methodology for analysis and identifies challenges such as systemic bias in India’s digital governance system. The paper argues that India requires child-centric, AI-based legal framework that integrates constitutional rights, particularly the right to dignity, privacy, and equality, into our digital governance. It also recommends harmonizing Indian law with global best practices while adapting them to India’s socio-legal context.References
• Aadhavan, V. -, & -, K. T. (2024). Legal frameworks and policy gaps in protecting children from online exploitation in india: Challenges and solutions. International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research, 6 (6), . https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2024.v06i06.31363
• AV, S, & -, N.D. (2024). Legal challenges of artificial intelligence in india’s cyber law framework: Examining data privacy and algorithmic accountability via a comparative global perspective. International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research, 6 (6), . https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2024.v06i06.31347
• Bharal, S., Sharma, R, Pandey, A, & Ahmed, S. (2025). Code, constitution and Al: Rethinking fundamental rights in the algorithmic era. https://doi.org/10.71097/ijsat.v16.i3.8087
• Chauhan, K. D. S., & Anupriya (2024). Darker patterns? Ai-generated persuasion and the regulatory void in indian law. Journal of development policy and practicenull, . https://doi.org/10.1177/24551333241275752
• Dey, D.N.C. (2025). Mental health of adolescents and youth in India: A critical analysis in the era of AI. Global E-Journal of Social Scientific Research, 1(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.64706/egrvyh93.
• Gonzalez-Torres, A. (2025). The impact of cybersecurity laws on child safety in the digital world. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-5132-2.ch006
• Government of India (2023) The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, No. 22 of 2023, Legislation of India.
• Government of India (2000) The Information Technology Act, 2000, No. 21 of 2000, Legislation of India.
• Government of India (2021) The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, Notification No. G.S.R. 139(E) , Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
• Government of India (2012) The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, No. 32 of 2012, Legislation of India
• Government of India (1950) The Constitution of India, adopted 26 November 1949, in force 26 January 1950. New Delhi: Government of India.
• Gupta, P., Shah, D., Bedi, N., Galagali, P., Dalwai, S., Agrawal, S., John, J.J., Mahajan, V., Meena, P., Mittal, H.G., Narmada, S., Smilie, C., Ramanan, P.V., Evans, Y.N., Goel, S., Mehta, R., Mishra, S., Pemde, H., Basavaraja, G.V. and Parekh, B.J. (2021). Indian Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines on Screen Time and Digital Wellness in Infants, Children and Adolescents. Indian Pediatrics, [online] 59(3), pp.235–244. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-022-2477-6.
• Hakimi, M., Sazish, B., Rastagari, M. A., & Shahidzay, K. (2024). Artificial intelligence for social media safety and security: A systematic literature review. https://doi.org/10.32996/smjc.2023.1.1.2x
• Hilbert, M., Cingel, D. P., Zhang, J., Vigil, S. L., Shawcroft, J., Xue, H., Thakur, A,, & Shafiq, Z. (n.d.). #bigtech @minors: Social media algorithms personalize minors’ content after a single session, but not for their protection. Social Science Research Networknull, . https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4674573
• Information Commissioner's Office (2020) Age appropriate design: a code of practice for online services. Wilmslow: Information Commissioner's Office. Available at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/childrens-information/childrens-code-guidance-and-resources/age-appropriate-design-a-code-of-practice-for-online-services/ (Accessed: 5 February 2026).
• Kadian, S. P., Yadav, N., & Yadav, G. (2025). The impact of cybersecurity laws on the child safety in the digital world. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-5132-2.ch008
• Mootz, J. and Blocker, K. (n.d.). UK Age-Appropriate Design Code Impact Assessment Age-Appropriate Design Code Impact Assessment. Available at: https://www.childrenandscreens.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Children-and-Screens-UK-AADC-Impact-Assessment.pdf.
• Mulaah, C. J,, Musa, A. Z., & Ibharim, N. S. B. (2025). Child protection and vulnerability in the context of uncensored social media. International journal of social science and human research, 08 (08), . https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v8-i8-76
• National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) (2024) Preventing bullying and cyberbullying: Guidelines for schools. New Delhi Available at: https://ncpcr.gov.in/uploads/1702548255657ad31ff39b4_preventing-bullying-and-cyberbullying-guidelines-for-schools.pdf .
• Rani, D. D. (2024). Protecting children from online grooming in india's increasingly digital post-covid-19 landscape: Leveraging technological solutions and ai-powered tools. International journal of innovative research in computer science & technologynull, . https://doi.org/10.55524/ijircst.2024.12.3.8
• Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and the on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (2016) Official Journal of the European Union L 119, pp. 1-88.
• Saldias, B. (2024). Designing child-centered content exposure and moderation. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2406.08420
• Sujith, M. P., & Dinkar, V. (2025). Algorithmic bias and the right to equality: Reimaginingconstitutional guarantees in the age of artificial intelligence. I/RDO - journal of business managementnull, . https://doi.org/10.53555/bm.v11i2.6403
• Thacker, H. (2025c). India Leverages AI to Tackle Online Child Sexual Abuse - The CSR Journal. [online] The CSR Journal. Available at: https://thecsrjournal.in/india-leverages-ai-to-tackle-online-child-sexual-abuse/ [Accessed 5 Feb. 2026].
• United Nations (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child. Treaty Series, 1577, 3
• UN Human Rights Office of High Commissioner (2021), General comment No. 25 (2021) on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/general-comments-and-recommendations/general-comment-no-25-2021-childrens-rights-relation
• UNICEF*.Digital Age Assurance, Age Verification Tools, and Children’s Rights Online across the Globe: A Discussion Paper*. Available at: https://c-fam.org/wp-content/uploads/Digital-Age-Assurance-Tools-and-Childrens-Rights-Online-across-the-Globe.pdf (Accessed: 5 February 2026).
• Verma, V., Kumar, P. M. S., & Singhal, D. (2025). Safeguarding children's rights in the digital age. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-5132-2.ch011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Nanthika Venkatesan (Author)